As a Windows XP user may I suggest you load up on many media players. Some formats do not play in Windows Media Player but play well in Real Player (Current version). I suggest getting Quicktime and a Divx Player as well. YES -- TO ALL WHO WILL SAY GET THE DivX CODECS for Windows Media Player -- I have those and I will say that I still have problems so I just load in a more convenient player. Some players have more eye candy than others but the the three I use the most (PERSONAL CHOICE BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE) are Windows Media Player, DivX Player, Real Player, and very occaisionally, Quicktime. I have found no reason to BUY any of the PRO versions, I've never had any problems with the basic versions (keep up-to-date versions). If one player gives you an error message or corruption message then try the other players in your arsenal before putting that file that took you three days to get in the round file. You may be pleasantly surprised to find it work in another player. I would say about 80% of the time I can get the file to work in another player. As a side note, beware of long (read ridculously long) file names. Windows Media Player does not like those. Before tossing in frustration, try shortening the title. That works for me about 95% of the time in cases of a very long file name. BEST OF LUCK